Here I am with another chapter of The Will of Resistance. We're gonna pick up right when we ended last time, so with Lelei and Yao. This chapter also be something some of you asked for some time. You wanted to know something about different races making up Resistance, so I'm gonna give them to you.
To Hank: I don't know. It depends on economic, territorial and population factors. Holy Order controls majority of Galaxy, so they would surely use it to advantage. It would take years to bring it down.
Let's begin then, shall we?
Chapter 15
,,First of-knowledge"
August 13, 2150
14:33
Fort Terhis Library
After some time, Yao and Lelei reached the base's library. Command decided to place it in the base, so soldiers would have easy access to numerous books if they ever wanted to read. Also, you could find several computers here. And it was one of computers Lelei and Yao approached.
"So, you're gonna tell me about Other Worlders?"Yao asked.
"Yes. And to it, I'm gonna use this computer."Lelei replied.
Yao looked at the flat device in front of them. Computer had two main parts: keyboard and screen.
"And what is that?"Dark Elf asked.
"It's a device common behind the Gate. Other Worlders use it for many things like working or for entertainment."Lelei replied.
Mage then grabbed the computer's screen and lifted it up. She let it go and device hung in the air, several centimeters over the countertop. It then activated, showing the logo of UNSA.
"Is this some magic?"Yao asked, seeing screen hanging in the air.
"No. They call it 'anti-gravity'. It allows things to fly several meters or centimeters over the ground."young mage said and touched the touch pad of the keyboard."But before I will start explaining who Other Worlders actually are, I have to tell you, that they are at war back in their world."
Yao risen her eyebrow.
"At war? With who?"she asked.
"With so-called 'Holy Order'."
"And what is that?"
Lelei then used the touch pad to move cursor and chosen the Google searcher. She wrote the term in the searching field and after few seconds, number of links appeared. She chosen the one leading to the Wikipedia.
First thing, which Yao saw, was a symbol of Penrose's Triangle with flattened vertices and mix of black and white. Lelei then started reading:
"Holy Order is a fanatic army and evolution of former Settlement Defense Front. It was created by Supreme Leader Broke after SDF Exodus in Unknown Regions. It's appearance in year 2130 marked the start of Great Galactic War."
"So they are fighting this fanatic army…for how long?"Yao asked.
"Twenty years already."Lelei replied.
Yao's eyes went wide after hearing this. Other Worlders were so powerful, yet they were fighting war for twenty years.
"Now, about Other Worlders."Lelei said."They create the so-called 'Resistance Alliance', coalition of nations capable of traveling faster than light and flying between planets and stars."
"They can travel faster than light? Fly between planets and stars?"Dark Elf asked.
Lelei nodded.
"Yes, faster than light travel is their way of traveling for long distances, what couldn't be done without it. Distances between planets and stars are counted in 'light years' and such distances can range between dozen or so to thousands of light years. For example, distance between Earth, Humans home planet and system of Alpha Centauri is roughly four light years. Meanwhile, distance from Earth to Minenia System is fifty thousand light years. Their Galaxy, so place where all stars and planets are located, is really vast place."
Yao just looked at Lelei with surprise. To hear, that Resistance could defeat such a long distances in so short amount of time using faster than light travel was just amazing.
"But wait. I also noticed, that there are numerous races. What about them?"she asked.
"Well, as I said, Resistance is an alliance. It's five most powerful members form the Great Five. They are United Nations Space Alliance or simply Humans, Chakdrik Collective, Nashini Republic, United Shakayan Kingdoms and Tertan Federation. There are also numerous smaller nations in Resistance, but it's Great Five that takes most of the fighting."
Lelei then looked at a group of Nashini Marines leaving the library.
"But, Holy Order also have it's Great Five, as I was told."she said.
"They do?"Yao asked.
"Yes. But unlike Resistance, which is an alliance in full meaning of this word, Holy Order is using subjugated races. But five most powerful races have the biggest authority. They are: Holy Order itself, Hadadrian Commonwealth, Viricon Empire, Fez'Kilig Consensus and Nakatan Clans."Lelei explained.
"And what can you tell me about all these races?"Yao asked.
"Not much. But I have something which will do it."Lelei said.
She then turned off the Wikipedia and turned on YouTube. There, she wrote 'most powerful nations of galaxy'. Soon, several videos appeared and Lelei pressed the first one titled 'Top 10 Most Powerful Nations in Galaxy as for 2127'. Video soon started, but Lelei decided to not go into the intro and waited, until the first of the nations will be displayed. When this happened, Lelei started translating.
"Number ten: Maraqs Confederacy."Lelei said, as an image of ball of aqua-colored crystals appeared."Home planet: Maraqia. Type of nation: Confederacy. Capital: Astruzia City. Length of life: 70-80 years. Type: sapient crystal/organic hybrid. Army size: 25,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 221 ships. Air force size: 1000 spacecraft."
"Wait, these Maraqs aren't in any of Great Fives."Yao noticed.
"Notice, that this is state of power from over twenty years ago."Lelei pointed out."War with Holy Order started in 2130 and since then, balance of power changed. Besides, Maraqs are part of Resistance, but they aren't so powerful to be in Great Five. And notice, that Holy Order itself is member of it's Great Five."
Yao nodded and Lelei continued to translate:
"Maraqs evolved on their home world of Maraqia, as combination of organic and crystal structures. This combination gave them a number of abilities regarding their crystal bodies. They can easily use themselves as blades, as their shape-shifting abilities allow them to take every shape possible and often can change to look like members of certain races, to make these races more comfortable while talking with them. However, their main form is a ball of moving crystals."
"So they are like Dars?"Yao asked.
"Not exactly. Their whole body is made up of crystal structures and their partially organic and partially crystal like."Lelei explained and translated."Each member of Maraq race shows psychic abilities, allowing them to more effectively interact with other races and their bodies, as they can sent a wave of crystal spikes flying at you using their minds."
"This have to hurt."Yao noticed, imaging a wave of small crystal spikes hitting a body.
"It's one of their most effective styles of fighting."Lelei said."However, their main weakness is their crystal structure. It only takes a little power to completely shatter Maraq into little pieces, what marks their death."she translated.
Yao nodded. It's information she would better remember, just in case.
Photo of crystal ball disappeared and was replaced by photo of humanoid ant and Lelei again started translating:
"Number nine: Chakdrik Collective. Home planet: Chakdria. Type of nation: Matriarchy. Capital: Xeres. Length of life: 4-12 months. Type: sapient insectoids. Army size: 34,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 298 ships. Air force size: 2742 spacecraft."
Dark Elf risen her eyebrow, hearing about Chakdrik length of life.
"That's short."she stated.
"Not for them."Lelei said."Chakdrik may live for just one year, but for them it's like several full years, as they come through childhood, adulthood and old age through this time."
Next, she translated again:
"Chakdriks are the only species on Chakdria that evolved from animalistic instincts and started their own civilization. Led by Matriarch, Chakdrik are fully devoted to serve her will. Although this might seem like an absolute monarchy, this system is the only thing that allows Chakdriks to not fall into chaos, as during 100 Days Darkness over eight hundred years ago, when Matriarch was killed without successor. This event led to war, which almost completely devastated their planet, but was stopped by Matriarch Klosia Nicit, which ascended to throne and managed to assume control over Chakdrik people, by using her telepathic abilities, something only true Matriarch could do."
"So this Matriarch is the only one that can use telepathy in Chakdrik society?"Yao asked.
"Yes. This is how Matriarch assumes control over rest of Chakdrik society. They are like ants, so it's just natural, that their queen has full control. And you heard, what happened, when there was no Matriarch."Lelei replied."After this event, Chakdrik started expanding across the Galaxy, ultimately creating one of biggest empires in modern Galactic history. Thanks to their ant lineage, Chakdrik possess impressing strength, allowing them to carry items four times heavier than them."
Yao nodded. Now, as she listened to this, she actually started seeing Chakdrik as evolution of ants. But ants from another planet.
"Currently, Chakdrik military is fully volunteer, due to main Chakdrik problem: short life. Fortunately, there are still enough people in Chakdrik society who want to join. Being numerous and capable of using limited resources, Chakdrik often are considered as one of best armies in Milky Way."Lelei said."Currently, Chakdrik Ministry of Defense is consumed by the biggest military modernization project in in years: introduction of Verix Fegra-class Escort Carriers. Currently, three out of ten ships were built."
Dark Elf frowned.
"Escort Carriers? What are these?"she asked.
"Escort Carriers are type of warships used beyond the Gate."Lelei replied."There are also Space Warfare Carriers and Super Carriers. This type of ship is used mainly to transport Resistance smaller flying machines. From these three types, Escort Carriers are the smallest."
"Then why their introduction in Chakdrik army is so important?"
"I was told, that by the eight hundred years long history of Chakdrik Collective, they had no Carriers in their fleet and were forced to rely on other ships to carry their machines. This is why it was so important for them. But, as some Chakdrik said, only five of these Escort Carriers were finished and until now, only two survived, while the ones still under construction were captured by Holy Order and now serve in their fleet."
Yao thought about it. If these ships were actually so important for Chkadrik, then actually, it must have been very hard for them to know, that they would have to destroy their own warships, which were build with their own hands.
Part of video about Chakdrik then ended and new one started. This time, it showed a massive, around two meter tall creature with four muscle arms and covered in gray fur. It had four white eyes and was dressed in green suit.
"Number eight: Hadadrian Commonwealth."Lelei said."Home planet: Hadadria. Type of nation: Federal State. Capital: Glor. Length of life: 200-350 years. Type: mammal. Army size: 10,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 150 ships. Air force size: 500 spacecraft."
This information made Yao confused.
"Wait. Two previous races had bigger armies and were lower. Why?"she asked.
"It's because of Hadadrian physiology."Lelei replied."I heard one Marine saying, that he once saw Hadadrian soldier getting hit by anti-tank missile and surviving for one more hour."
"And these anti-tank missiles?"Yao asked.
"You saw these vehicles with long pipe pointed forward?"mage asked and Yao nodded."These were tanks. Such missiles were designed to easily deal with them."
Yao then started slowly understanding. These 'tanks' looked like an armored death in all meaning of this word. So it was scary, that missiles made to take care of tanks had almost no effect on organic specie.
"Everybody knows these stereotypes about Hadadrians."Lelei translated the video."Strong, almost indestructible and savage in battle. From these three, only first and second are true. Hadadrians are often stated to be some of the best tacticians on the battlefield, always using their lower numbers to their advantage. Thanks to their spread nerve system, even after ripping half of their body, they still can fight and kill. And it's what they use to their advantage. Imagine, as wall of almost indestructible creatures charge at you with parts of their body missing."
Yao imagined this. And actually, she felt thrills coming down her spine because of that.
"But what really made Hadadrians famous, is their fleet of Super Battleships of various classes. Armor made of Genran Tungsten is insensitive to actually any kind of damage and because Hadadrians have access to only source of this material, they have capabilities to produce Super Battleships by the next one thousand years."
Dark Elf widened her eyes. To hear, that there are ships almost indestructible was simply stunning. And to hear that race that produces them have capabilities of producing them on mass, was even more worrying.
"But everything have it's own weaknesses. And so have the Hadadrians. As it was discovered during Goshar War between Tertan Federation and Hadadrian Commonwealth, after being sprayed with acid, Hadadrians start to decompose almost immediately. Thanks to this, Tertans managed to turn the tables and win the war."
"So they can be killed?"Yao asked.
"Yes."Lelei said."Just like Flame Dragon."
Yao's face thinned.
"Don't remind me."she said.
Young mage just nodded and returned to translating.
"Although having the smallest army among ten most powerful races, Hadadrians still pose a threat while fighting them."
Next part of the video started and this time, Yao saw a humanoid creature made completely of metal and painted in silver. It had one red eye on it's head and had no ears, nose or mouth.
"Number seven: Viricon Empire. Home planet: Viria. Type of nation: absolute dictatorship. Capital: Zadar City. Length of life: forever. Type: intelligent artificial form of life. Army size: 40,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 321 ships. Air force size: 2900 spacecraft."
"Artificial form of life?"Yao asked."And they live forever?"
"It's a life created by other races. Humans, for example, have androids, machines resembling them in all aspects. And because Viricons are machines, they aren't born, but build. They don't die and can only be killed by someone else."Lelei explained."Not much is known about Viricons past. Some say, that they once were organic, but after long time of upgrading their bodies, they changed into full machines. Others say, that they were created by organic race, which was destroyed in the war with Viricons. Whatever is the case, Viricons pose a serious threat. They have no emotions, unlike Human androids, while being brutal and they never take prisoners."
"When I hear about it, I think of Sadera."Yao stated.
"I know."Lelei agreed."Viricon Empire managed to subjugate numerous races and formed their Satellite States Ring. These are alien races surrounding the Empire and forming kind of ring, which serves as Viricon first line of defense in case of war."
"So these 'satellite states' are like vassal states, right?"Yao asked and Lelei nodded.
"Viricons also show talents in creation of advanced AI."Lelei said."Most of their ships are Viricons themselves. Their biggest and most dangerous weapon, however, is the Swarm. Shapeless mass of microbots, capable of piercing through the armor of strongest ships and ripping them apart. There are currently no countermeasures against the Swarm, except of destroying their Hive Ship."
Yao nodded. If even Resistance didn't had anything to fight this 'Swarm', then it surely had to be a very dangerous weapon.
"However, because they are mostly similar to Human androids, Viricons are weak to every kind of energy based weaponry, with lasers easily burning through their armor and their subsystems."
Another part of video started. This time, it showed a photo of short, fur covered creature with rolled trunk on it's face. It was dressed in white shirt and pants.
"Number six: United Shakayan Kingdoms."Lelei said."Home planet: Shakaya. Type of nation: constitutional monarchy. Capital: Halgad. Length of life: 70-80 years. Type: sapient proboscidean mammal. Army size: 48,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 378 ships. Air force size: 3178 spacecraft."
Yao frowned.
"One of them tried to do you know what."she noticed.
"Yes. Shakayans might be a bit uncouth, but this is just how this race is."Lelei said."United Shakayan Kingdoms stand as the only true constitutional monarchy in the Galaxy, where all other monarchies are absolute or despotic. Country is ruled by King or Queen, together with the Royal Council."
"Like Elbe."Yao noticed.
"True. As it is said in here, Shakayans are only constitutional monarchy, so type of country where monarch only serves as a representative of the country."Lelei explained."Shakayans grew to be called 'greatest engineers of modern Galaxy', due to their engineering skills. Their homeworld of Shakaya is known from numerous and deadly cataclysms, which hit almost every day: from storms, through tornados, ending at tsunamis. This is why Shakayan society had to adapt to these conditions by building strong and durable buildings and vehicles. Their military vehicles are often build with survivability of the crew in mind, so to prevent large amount of casualties, what came in handy numerous times."
"So they care about their people."Yao said.
"Well, as it was said here, their home planet tried to kill them at every way possible, so they had to make sure they survive."Lelei said."Shakayans aren't the best runners, as their short legs only allow them to run on short to medium distances. On the ground, they often prefer to use vehicles for long range traveling, or if situation requires it, they are able to hold position even for months before reinforcements arrive. Their warships, on the other hand, are adapted to perform months long planetary sieges, at the same time being able to repel any enemy counterattack, what was showed mainly during Battle of Chandleria Prime during Shakayan-Human War of 2123, when Shakayan fleet consisting of just 20 ships managed to repel seven counterattacks by Human forces, not even breaking the siege."
Yao listened to this with impress. Many armies often had to abandon the siege, only to repel the attack coming from behind. And this then allowed besieged troops to leave the fortress and easily deal with attacking army, by using the pincer tactics. And these Shakayans didn't even had to break the siege to repel Human attacks.
"Currently, Shakayans are heavily investing in development of their newly designed Garkala-class Super Carrier, the biggest warship ever built by Shakayan hand."
"So they also never had these Carriers?"Yao asked.
"No, but having Super Carrier in their world s often the factor that changes many battles. Some Resistance soldiers told me, that when Holy Order Super Carriers entered battle, it was already lost, as except of number of spacecraft, Super Carriers have firepower allowing them to annihilate entire formations."Lelei explained."Also, according to what I know, the biggest Super Carrier that is currently in service is Holy Order Olympus Mons-class."
Next part of the video then started. Photo on the screen showed a humanoid alien with reptilian face and body and some kind of collar behind it's head.
"Number five: Nakatan Clans. Home planet: Nakata. Type of nation: tribal confederacy. Capital: Sasarz (currently). Length of life: 90-150 years. Type: sapient reptilian form of life. Army size: 52,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 400 ships. Air force size: 3922 spacecraft."
Yao once more looked at the photo of reptilian alien. Immediately, just by looking at it, she started to dislike this race. It simply didn't looked like type of race, which can be liked easily.
"Nakatan Clans are, like it is said, is confederation of clans or tribes. Each clan or tribe is responsible for supplying their own army and can interact with other nations in the Galaxy however they want. But they all must respond in front of ruling clan, which changes every fifty years."
"So, every fifty years, these Nakatans change the ruling clan?"Yao asked.
"Seems like it. But it's also common in our world, with nations where there are more than one group of people."Lelei replied and returned to translating."But, as you might expect, such state of things sometimes can end bad and it happens. Number of inter-clan wars can be counted in hundreds and it often ended in one or more clans rebuilding for many years following the war. While some clans not able to rebuild, often being absorbed by the others."
Dark Elf nodded. In the past, the situation with Dark Elf Clans was the same, as numerous wars between them often led to similar outcomes.
"In Nakatan society, the membership in clan or tribe is often more important than tot he country itself. But although all these divisions and wars, Nakatan Clans survived hundreds of years on the galactic scene of affairs. They fought numerous wars with Tertans, some more and some less successful, while at the same time fighting each other. Yet, the clans always are able to show their combat abilities. They also often perform rides into other races territory, to pillage remote settlements on poorly defended moons and planets."
Yao nodded. Such things were known to her way to well.
"So they are like these all sea pillagers from beyond the Great Ocean?"she asked.
"You could say it like that."Lelei said."But these rides differ from these in our world with this, that Nakatans have access to technology allowing them to strike the settlement from the orbit, after which they land and start pillaging what's left."
"I understand."Yao said.
"Anyway, let's continue."mage said."Every Nakatan clan is ruled by the Elder, which makes all decisions. If clan is currently in rule of other clans, there is voting to choose the Great Khan of Nakatan Clans, which rules entire Clans and always leads them to battle."
Dark Elf then frowned.
"Wait…When you say it like that, it kind of reminds me of Warrior Bunny Tribes and their Battle Queen."she said.
"Actually, I also have the same associations. I wonder, if their conquest by Holy order looked similar to the Empire conquest of Northern Territories."Lelei wondered.
"Maybe Great Khan also tried to save himself, only to allow rest of his race to be subjugated by this Order?"Yao added.
Young mage just threw up her arms and returned to the translating of the video.
Aother photo appeared, showing the creature that could only be described as little, gray skinned, big heads without lips and noses and big eyed human. Creature didn't wore any clothes, but it actually didn't needed any. It didn't had to cover anything.
"Number four: Fez'Kilig Consensus."Lelei said."Home planet: Kilig. Type of nation: consensus. Capital: Diia'Af. Length of life: 50-60 years. Type: unknown (physiology don't applying to any type of species). Army size: 58,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 492 ships. Air force size: 4000 spacecraft."
Yao looked at the creature with mixed feelings. Somehow, it seemed to be harmless. But knowing, that at the time this video was published, it was fourth power in the Galaxy, they shouldn't be misunderstood.
"Fez'Kilig Consensus is actually the first race ever met by Humans."Lelei translated."Known under the name of 'Grays', the species became the archetype of stereotype alien creature, with big head and gray skin. But all the theories about them were confirmed, when in 2078 Human science ship met one of their ships. As it was often said, their ships in fact resembled stereotype alien ship, in form of round machine. Encounter ended in the destruction of science ship."
"Wait. So these Fez'Kilig actually were visiting Human planet?"Yao asked.
"From what Ester said, Fez'Kilig were first observed almost three hundred years ago. They appeared on Human homeworld numerous times since then and became very popular in their literature and other works."Lelei explained.
Yao nodded.
"However, after the first sightings of Fez'Kilig, their race found itself under attack by the Tertan Empire, which effectively conquered their star systems. Since then, Fez'Kilig became scouts of the Tertan Empire and became giving them information about this backward race known as 'Humans'. Fearing annihilation, Fez'Kilig started visiting Humans in various situations, like during crises and wars, to document and do research on captured people, to let Tertans know about them. These actions by Fez'Kilig led to the 1st Tertan War."Lelei translated.
"1st Tertan War?"Yao asked."And what's that?"
"I will tell you later."Lelei said."Fez'Kilig served Tertans for almost three hundred years, before events of 2nd Tertan War, when Empire went through coup d'etat. Fez'Kilig used this opportunity and broke away from Tertan rule, reforming their Consensus."
Dark Elf nodded. She often heard about situations, when some kingdoms broke away from their overlords during crises or wars. It seemed like world behind the Gate was actually pretty similar.
"Fez'Kilig don't posses any form of lips to communicate, but they have their own ways. They are known from being the most psychic race in the Galaxy, able to even influence people's thoughts with their psychic abilities. To communicate, they use highly developed type of telepathy. They also use their abilities to travel, as all their ship have Navigator, Fez'Kilig with psychic abilities bigger than anyone else. It allows them to easily influence the ship and force it to move, stop or attack. Additionally, their physiology can't be isn't applying to any other races, as their internal organs are actually all connected and form one super organ. Their brains are three times as big as any other race and they communicate only with the people they choose. Scientists till today wonder, how to classify them."
"Okay then."Yao said."According to what is said here, Fez'Kilig are telepaths and they can guide their ships with their thoughts? And they aren't applying to any other type of species?"
"You understood it good."Lelei said."I also heard, that their telepathic abilities can be used to torture."
Yao gulped.
"Torture?"she asked.
"Yes. They simply enter your mind and start giving you pain so big, that it would broke every simple Human and any other race."Lelei said."At least, that's what Other Worlders said."
She turned back to screen.
"Fez'Kilig are highly isolationist race, rarely engaging in an form of diplomacy with other races and nations. However, they hold a strong military force to confront any threats if they will be attacked. So, although powerful and surely the ones to be recognized with, they are actually the most peaceful of the great powers of the Galaxy."
Then, video moved to it's next segment. Photo, which appeared on the screen, presented a two meter tall, triangular-headed creature wearing elastic, red suit.
"Number three: Nashini Republic."Lelei said."Home planet: Nashina. Type of nation: parliamentary democracy. Capital: Hef'Adra. Length of life: 150-290 years. Type: reptilian/mammal hybrid. Army size: 62,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 522 ships. Air force size: 4598 spacecraft."
"One of them also tried to do this."Yao said.
"True. But such people like that one are often stigmatized in Nashini society and marked as the worst types of criminals."Lelei explained."Nashini Republic was born in blood in suffering. It's not rare to hear Nashini saying 'We needed a pandemic and war to finally unite'."
Yao risen her eyebrow.
"Pandemic and war?"she asked.
"It's true, as in their history, entire race was almost completely wiped out by the plague of 'Orange Fever', a sickness revealing itself in form of orange stripes forming on infected neck. But, as the plague was moving forward, more divisions appeared in the society. More precisely, two sides appeared. First side of the struggle was believing in finding a cure and eradicating the Orange Fever in bloodless way. Second side believed, that they need to simply kill every infected and burn their bodies."
"And I thought that plagues in our history were devastating and led to divisions."Yao said.
Lelei just nodded her head.
"This conflict escalated from simple argument into full scale armed conflict, which spanned all of Nashina, with numerous usages of nuclear, biological and other mass destruction weapons."
"What is 'mass destruction weapon'?"Yao asked.
"It's a weapons designed to kill large amount of people as fast as possible on large area. It's also often used as a weapon of fear, so your enemies would not dare to attack you."Lelei explained.
Yao just looked at her, not knowing what to say. Weapon created only to kill as many people as possible in short amount of time. It seemed like Other Worlders really were keen on creating more and more devastating types of weapons.
"However, after two years of brutal conflict, the Vacciners, as one side of the conflict was called, managed to find a cure on the Orange Fever and started spreading it around the planet, marking an end of Orange Fever Pandemic and, as history called it, Orange Fever War. War criminals were arrested and executed, while Nashini finally understood, how rotten their society became, if they almost completely destroyed themselves just because of argument about how to deal with the sickness. This is why, after world-wide referendum, it was decided, that entire Nashina will be united under one, planet-wide government."
"I don't know why, but is see it as a good decision."Yao stated."Especially when you consider, that they almost killed themselves off."
"I can't argue with that statement."Lelei said and continued."Following the Orange Fever, whole planet started a great program of rebuilding and repopulating the abandoned areas. Places, which were treated with mass destruction weapons were cut off from rest of the globe and process of years long cleaning and removing the radioactive and chemical traces. However, as it was soon realized, to completely rebuild what was once Nashina, government needed new sources of resources, as the ones on the planet started to run out. This is why the Nashini System Exploration Program was started. Program started the era of space flights, as after exploring and placing outposts on planets and moons of the system, with help of newly developed hyperspace drive, Nashini could leave the system and started colonizing others."
Yao bit her lip. Situation on Nashina had to look even worse than she thought, if Nashini used so many resources from their planet and it still wasn't enough.
"By the hundreds of years of existence of Nashini Republic, country made numerous contacts with other races. But the most important one happened in the year 2036, when Nashini scout ship met a ship of unknown design and origin. Soon, Nashini managed to contact the vessel only to discover, that it belongs to race of beings called "Humans'. This event, known as the Second Contact, marked the start of Human-Nashini alliance and friendship, which continues until today."
"So Nashini were the first race Humans met?"Yao asked.
"No. They were the second."Lelei replied.
Yao frowned.
"Then who was the first?"she asked.
"I will come to this."young mage said.
Next photo that appeared on the screen was more known to Yao, as it presented simple Human, dressed in forest camo uniform.
"Number two: United Nations Space Alliance and Solar Alliance Treaty Organization."Lelei translated.
Yao risen her eyebrow, seeing, that Humans aren't the strongest.
"I thought Humans would dominate. There are the most of them in this base."she noticed.
"It's like that, because Humans are in charge of all operations behind the Gate, as it was their territory, that was attacked."Lelei explained.
Yao nodded.
"And why are two factions at one place?"
"Because they both are equal in terms of power and military."Lelei said."Home planet: Earth. Type of nation: military alliance of numerous nations. Capital: Geneva (UNSA HQ building location). Length of life: 90-120 years. Type: mammal. Army size: 10,000,000 troops (UNSA Army and Marines Corp, 66,000,000 combined with SATO). Fleet size: 631 ships (UNSA Navy). Air force size: 5421 spacecraft (UNSA Navy).
"Alliance of nations?"Yao asked.
"Yes. Earth, Human homeworld, is still divided into smaller countries, each having their own military. But often, UNSA is the only Human military force to be recognized with."Lelei explained."Just like Nashini, Human era of space colonization began in suffer, struggle and blood, as it was a result of 1st Tertan War."
Yao's ears twitched, again hearing this name.
"Maybe I'll finally learn, what this war actually was."she whispered.
"When over 130 years ago, Tertans invaded Earth, war which followed, brought mankind to the brink of extinction. It became the biggest war in history of our race, which ended after six bloody years."
"Wait a second."Yao stopped."You want to tell me, that Humans beyond the Gate were almost reduced to simple memory?"
"Not quite."Lelei replied."Tertans decided to keep several Human cities intact, so new Humans could be born and they could take them as slaves."
Yao nodded and young mage returned to translating.
"After the end of war, Earth's governments started period of quick rebuilding, using technology captured from defeated Tertans. After reverse engineering these technologies, Human race joined the group of space flight capable races and soon, resources from beyond our Solar System started to flow, what allowed to quickly rebuild Earth and bring it back to the state from before the invasion."
"So I see, that Humans actually managed to rise up from this what happened."Yao said.
"Humans are highly adaptive, as I said numerous soldiers say."Lelei said."Being the youngest of all other races in the Galaxy, Humans often weren't taken seriously. However, as it was soon found out, they have persistent and don't surrender, when they try to reach their goal. Chakdrik, Shakayans and eventually even Tertans, learned about it in hard way. Especially Tertans, as Humans were the first race to ever lay siege to Tertan homeworld of Terta Prime."
Dark Elf risen her eyebrow.
"Situations have turned. First, Tertans invaded Humans and after time, Humans did the same."
Lelei nodded.
"But even in these united goals of pursuing the Tertans and repaying them for their invasion of Earth, Humans still had their divisions. First, it was showed in Secession Wars in 2070s, when Mars, ruled by Settlement Defense Front, decided to break away from Earth and then, in UNSA-SDF War of 2100, during which both Earth and Mars saw heavy fighting on their surfaces."
Yao simply listened to these words. Even when Humans were united by common goal, it seemed, like nothing could stop them from arguing between one another.
"Currently, Human power in Galaxy consists of four nations, but it's Earth, that still plays the major role on the galactic stage."
Yao frowned.
"Four nations?"she asked.
"Yes."Lelei replied."Except of Earth, four more Human planets are capitals of their respective nations. These three other nations are Federal Principality of Minenia, Laconian Republic and Kingdom of Attica."
Right then, another photo appeared on the screen. It showed Tertan representative of Black Cast in civilian suit with gas mask.
"Number one: Tertan Federation."Lelei said.
To be honest, Yao was a bit surprised to see, that race that attacked Humans and was actually defeated by them was the most powerful at the time.
"Home planet: Terta Prime. Type: constitutional republic. Capital: Wardvor. Length of life: 500-1300 years. Type: zharapod. Army size: 70,000,000 troops. Fleet size: 700 ships. Air force size: 6000 spacecraft."
"Zharopod?"Yao asked, confused.
"It seems to be one of types of animals on Terta Prime."Lelei said."The oldest race in the Galaxy and the first one to achieve ability of space travel, Tertans were often ahead of everyone. For centuries, they were sole and dominant power in the Milky Way, conquering and subjugating races, both advanced and primitive. Their unification became known as Unification War, which led to creation of Tertan Empire, which ruled a big part of Galaxy."
"Just like Sadera."Yao noticed.
"Actually, I heard some Humans comparing Sadera to Tertan Empire. And it looks like both were pretty similar."Lelei replied."By many years, nothing could stop them. Until they stepped upon a small planet in certain Solar System. After Fez'Kilig scouts brought the information about sapient specie living on the planet to the Emperor, he ordered years of research, which allowed him to plan the invasion. However, you know how the invasion ended."
"They were driven back."Yao said.
"After that, people started to distrust the Emperor, seeing that mighty Tertan military couldn't crush and conquer such a primitive race. This led to number of rebellions by local rulers, which were brutally suppressed by Emperor and his forces. But it wasn't the end of their wars with Humans. Over ninety years after the invasion of Earth, 2nd Tertan War started."
Hearing this, Dark Elf's ears twitched again.
"War started in 2110 and lasted for three years, with Humans scoring enormous victories, although Tertans often thrown at Humans their best weapons. All of this struggle culminated during the Siege of Terta Prime, when Humans became the first ones to try and invade the planet. However, something unexpected happened."
Yao started thinking and one thing came to her mind, as she remembered the Fez'Kilig.
"One of Tertan generals, Hemilin Nequxorop, rebelled against the Emperor and assassinated him, ending the line of Tertan Emperors. He then proclaimed Tertan Federation in place of old Empire. Coup allowed numerous races to declare independence and start their own path. Hemilin Nequxorop, now President of Tertan Federation, started peace talks with Humans, which culminated in Treaty of Ganymede, ending the war."
"Seems like Tertan military didn't showed it's best at that time."Yao stated.
"It actually didn't."Lelei agreed."Tertans, however, although being the biggest army of the Galaxy, have a certain and pretty annoying weakness. When they are exposed to oxygen, their lungs literally start burning. This is why they always have to carry gas masks or helmets, so this won't happen. Because of this, they are the only race in the Galaxy, which can't breath with oxygen."
"Then what do they breath with?"Yao asked and video immediately explained.
"Tertans are only allowed to breath with tertrit, which on the other hand is dangerous for Humans. Research on tertrit, showed that it's a mix of sulfur and radon. It can be found naturally only in atmospheres of two planets: Terta Prime and Mahiz, which both are in Tertan System. This is why Tertan government created the Atmosphere Formers, devices allowing them to filter atmosphere and replace the oxygen with tertrit, what made them habitable. Such operations were also partaken on Earth, mainly in Siberia and Amazon Jungle, but were stopped by Human air raids. However, due to the big costs of these operations, they are performed only on the planets that are allowed by the government."
Dark Elf risen her eyebrow.
"So the 'Atmosphere Formers' can change air so Tertans could breath?"Yao asked.
"Seems like it."Lelei said."Although the fall of Tertan Empire, Tertan Federation still stands as the greatest power of the Galaxy, always ready for any and all possible conflicts."
And with these statement, the video came to an end. Lelei turned the computer off and turned to Yao.
"Did these information calmed down your curiosity?"young mage asked.
"It truly did."Yao replied."And to think, that Other Worlders are at war with something like Holy Order. How big must be their losses after twenty years?"
"I asked. And trust me, you don't want to know."Lelei replied.
Yao then lowered her head and sighed.
"But what can I do with this knowledge? I still won't manage to get Other Worlders help."she stated.
Lelei stood up and patter Yao's arm.
"Don't give up so easily."she said."Resistance is lately pretty busy. I'm sure they are preparing for something important, so they might just don't have time now."
"So you think, that they might help me in some time?"Dark Elf asked.
"Just believe in them."Lelei said.
And with this reassurance, the two proceeded to leave the library.
XXX
And here it is. I hope, that this chapter made the different races in Resistance and Holy Order more clear. But now, we're gonna return to the more action and main story, as Resistance is preparing for their next operation.
Nothing else to say here, so see ya!